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The Citigroup Center, formerly called the Citicorp Center, is a distinctive and one of the tallest skyscrapers in New York City. It is located at 53rd Street between Lexington Avenue and Third Avenue in midtown Manhattan. What makes the 59-floor, 915-foot (279 metre) skyscraper stand out in New York City is the 45° angled top and its unique stilt-style base. The 45-degree top was originally intended to contain solar panels to provide energy - an idea that was eventually dropped. The Citigroup center was designed by architect Hugh Stubbins Jr. for Citibank and was completed in 1977.
Citigroup Center, New York City
Author: Trxr4kds (public domain)
From the very beginning, the Citigroup Center was an engineering challenge. The northwest corner of the proposed building site was occupied by St. Peter's Lutheran Church. Although the church allowed Citicorp to demolish the old church and build the skyscraper, it set one condition: a new church has to be built on the same corner, with no connection to the Citicorp building and no columns passing through it. the St Peter's Lutheran Church wanted to remain on the site of the new development, near one of the intersections. Architects wondered at the time if this demand was too much, and if the proposal could even work.
To ensure the condition set by the church was met, the Citigroup Center was built on four massive 114-foot (35-metre) tall columns, positioned at the center of each side of the building, rather than at the corners. This allows the northwest corner of the tower to cantilever 75 feet over the new church.
While the skyscraper was under construction, the structural engineer William LeMessurier discovered a potentially fatal flaw in the building's construction: the skyscraper's bolted joints were too weak to withstand 70-mile-per-hour wind gusts at specific angles, making the building unstable in a hurricane. He decided to inform Citicorp of the problem, and convinced them to get a crew of welders to repair the problem without informing the publlic. It was only 20 years after the building was completed that the issue surfaced in the New York Times. Although LeMessurier was criticized for not revealing the problem to the public for two decades, his act of informing Citicorp is regarded today as an example of ethical behaviour in several engineering textbooks. Today the Citigroup Center is considered one of the most structurally sound skyscrapers in the world.
How to reach the Citigroup Center
The Citigroup Center is located at 153 East 53rd Street.Return to Midtown Manhattan
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